Rice named Portsmouth's next public works director

PORTSMOUTH — City Manager John Bohenko announced Tuesday that Peter Rice will assume the position of director of public works following the departure of Steve Parkinson in June.

Charles McMahon

PORTSMOUTH — City Manager John Bohenko announced Tuesday that Peter Rice will assume the position of director of public works following the departure of Steve Parkinson in June.

Rice, who has more than 25 years of engineering experience and has worked for the city for more than 11 years, will take over beginning June 1. Parkinson is leaving his post at the end of May, after 31 years working for the city.

During his time with the city, Rice served as city engineer and was most recently appointed to the position of deputy director of public works.

“Rice has worked closely with Parkinson for years and is on top of the operations of the Public Works Department,” Bohenko said.

In addition to promoting Rice, Bohenko said he has hired Brian Goetz as deputy director. Goetz has 25 years of water resources and water systems management and consulting experience. He was the operation manager for the Aquarion Water Company in Hampton for five years and was the city's water resource manager for nearly two years. For the past seven years, Goetz has been a consultant specializing in water resources, systems operations planning and regulatory compliance issues.

His most recent work has been with Tighe & Bond, where he was involved with the city's Water System Master Plan Update project and was also a part of the Municipal Financial Services Group/Tighe & Bond team for the city's Water and Sewer Rate Study.

“The hiring of Goetz will ensure a smooth transition,” said Bohenko. “Brian Goetz has worked with the city for a number of years and knows the city's staff as well as our systems.”

Bohenko said having a successful transition in the Public Works Department is very important in terms of being able to maintain high levels of service.

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